1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to vending machines, and more particularly to a system that provides for automatic service requesting of a vending machine.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As is known, there are a wide variety of vending machines, including those that dispense soft drinks, juices, snacks, cigarettes, candy, etc. In accordance with the general operation of these devices, a patron inserts money into a machine and the machine dispenses some sort of product. In addition to the items listed above, additional products may include ice cream, tickets, tokens, money (e.g., money changers), etc. For purposes of this application, the term xe2x80x9cvending machinexe2x80x9d is to be accorded a broad definition. In this regard, vending machines include, but are not limited to, machines that typically accept currency (either in the form of cash or credit cards), and dispenses some sort of product. Vending machines, however, within the scope of the term as used herein, need not require direct payment into the machine, but may simply be a machine that dispenses an article of inventory.
A variety of problems are known to cause vending machines to become inoperable (at least temporarily). For example, the machine may run out of one or more products, it may run out of change, or other problems may arise. Typically, these problems are addressed by sending a person to periodically restock the machines, or check them for proper functionality. However, this method encounters additional costs since the machines may not need restocking or servicing. At other times, the machines have been out of order or out of stock for some period of time before this condition is observed in the periodic restock or service run. Indeed, it is relatively expensive to employ an individual to make these periodic status checks. Also, a machine may be disabled or otherwise in need of service for a undesirably lengthy period of time between service checks, before the service condition is noted and reported.
There are systems known in the prior art that address this general shortcoming. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,784 discloses an inventory control system for a vending machine. That patent discloses a system that maintains an accurate running count of products maintained with a vending machine, at any given time. This count, or inventory status, may be communicated to an inventory control center at any given time, via phone lines. As specifically disclosed in that patent, various vending machines are connected to an inventory control center by way of telephone lines. Although the patent does not specify whether the telephone lines are leased lines or whether they communicate to the control center through the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Nevertheless, the patent does teach specifically that the phone lines are directly connected to the vending machines (see FIG. 1 and related discussion), and that the communication is performed by a modem disposed within each vending machine.
While the system of the ""784 patent eliminates the need for a person to periodically check the machine(s) to determine whether they need to be restocked, it nevertheless suffers from other shortcomings. Most notably, the system of the ""784 patent requires a phone line to be run directly to the vending machine(s). This limits the placement/location of such machines to locations where phone lines (and taps) presently exist, or requires the added expense of paying a telephone service provider to run a phone line to the machine. Furthermore, the system of the ""784 patent does not address the problem of system failure. That is, when the machine malfunctions (for any of a variety of reasons), this problem must be manually detected and reported to the vending machine owner (or management company) so that an appropriate repair technician may be dispatched to service the machine. Valuable time, and many sales, may be lost before the condition is noted and reported.
Another inventory control system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,223. Specifically, the system disclosed in the ""223 patent is a system for monitoring the inventory of ice in an ice dispensing machine (another type of vending machine xe2x80x94even though it may not require direct payment into the machine). The system detects a low threshold of product inventory and reports this to, for example, the supplier of the product. The patent specifically teaches that the manner of reporting may xe2x80x9cbe by phone over either ground lines or cellular telephony, or by satellite, by radio transmission, or by local network.xe2x80x9d The method of communication, however, is directly to the supplier. Furthermore, the system, like that disclosed in the ""784 patent does not address equipment failure. Thus, a mechanical failure may be manually detected and reported.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an apparatus and method that effectively addresses these and other shortcomings of the prior art.
Certain objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the advantages and novel features, the present invention is generally directed to an automated system for requesting service of a vending machine. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the system includes a set of sensors disposed within a vending machine. As is known, the sensors are configured to detect a variety of service conditions, including products being low or out of stock, as well as out of order conditions. The sensors generate output signals that are input to a transmitter disposed at (typically within) the vending machine. The transmitter includes circuitry that encodes the signals received from the sensors into a message that includes an instruction code. The transmitter further includes circuitry for transmitting the encoded message, preferably via radio frequency transmission (although other forms of transmission are consistent with the invention). The system further includes a transceiver located remotely (but nearby) from the transmitter, and configured to receive the transmitted signal. The transceiver includes circuitry for accessing the public switched telephone network and circuitry for controlling the transceiver to dial a defined telephone number. The foregoing circuitry operates to establish a connection with a central station (e.g., a dispatch station). The transceiver further includes circuitry that, after the connection is established, controls the transmission of the encoded message to the central station. In accordance with certain embodiments of the invention, the transceiver may also transmit additional, transceiver specific, information to the central station as well. Accordingly, the central station includes an interface to the PSTN and circuitry configured to receive the encoded message transmitted from the transceiver. The central station further includes circuitry (which may be programmable xe2x80x94e.g., in the form of a computer) that evaluates the encoded message, and from that evaluation determines the state of the vending machine sensors.
To illustrate the foregoing summary with an operational example, consider a vending machine that is running low on a particular product. A sensor within the vending machine may make this determination and signal the transmitter accordingly. The transmitter then broadcasts a transmission that includes an instruction code that corresponds to the low product alert. The transceiver receives the broadcast transmission and communicates this information to a predetermined phone number. In this respect, the predetermined phone number may also be communicated from the transmitter to the transceiver along with the instruction code. Assuming that the predetermined number corresponds to a central dispatch center, the center answers the phone call placed by the transceiver and receives the instruction code. It then decodes the instruction code to determine that a particular product is low in the vending machine, and it may dispatch an appropriate service person to restock the machine. To this end, the center may be configured to generate an email message to route to an appropriate service person to handle the request. In similar fashion a sensor may detect an out of order condition (one of any number of operational malfunctions). In the same way that a product low message (described above) is communicated to a central station, an operation service condition may be communicated as well. The central station, upon decoding the condition, may dispatch an appropriate service person (instead of a restock person) to service the vending machine.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for performing an automated service request. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, the method includes the steps of sensing a service condition and notifying a transmitter of the service condition. Then the method transmits an information signal from the transmitter to a remotely-located transceiver, wherein the information signal includes a function code that specifies the service condition. Thereafter, the method places a call from the transceiver to a central station over a phone line comprising a part of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and communicates at least the function code from the transceiver to the central station. Finally, the method decodes the function code at the central station to identify the service request.